Shhhhhhhhhhh... Kaaaaaa BOOM!

Did you ever hear a sales person say "I can hear a pin drop in my territory" (meaning they know everything that's going on and where all the sales opportunities are) when in fact they couldn't hear an explosion today?

Why do you think sales people say that? Simple. It's human nature. And despite what MARKETING people may think, SALES people are human.

Sales people basically say that, so no one finds out what they are not doing in their territory. Let me explain...

Suggest to that same sales person, that based on statistics relating to the number of telephone dialing attemps to reach people today to set appointments, the cost of sales calls, the number of sales calls it takes to close a sale, the number of reps seen in a week by customers, and all the other things they have to do besides follow-up sales leads, you know that it's IMPOSSIBLE for sales people to call on prospects and know everything that's going on in their territory -- and guess what? They will agree with you.

FACT: Less than 20% of sales leads ever get followed-up.

There is good reason for poor follow-up. And guess what else? From having qualified more than 1,000,000 sales leads for more than 150 companies over the past 2-decades, we found that in the leads that DID get followed up by the sales department... 87% of them were from EXISTING customers.

So what does all that tell you? It should tell you that sales people are being forced to LIVE with their EXISTING customers today, and IGNORE their PROSPECTS. And that you will get a lot more from your sales team with EMPATHY for their lead follow-up problems, than you will with BLAME for not following up.

Empathize with your sales force's problems and make it easier for them to follow-up leads, then listen to the PINS DROP TOGETHER.